2015 National NOW Resolutions

CAMPAIGN FOR A $15 MINIMUM WAGE

WHEREAS, closing the wage gap and achieving the economic empowerment of women is one of the priority issues of the National Organization for Woman, and

WHEREAS, NOW’s activism, has moved pay equity forward in the nearly half-century since our founding, and

WHEREAS the “15 NOW” Campaign for a $15-an hour minimum wage fights for livable wages and justice for all, and

WHEREAS the largest group of workers who earn minimum wages are women, and

WHEREAS in 2013, the very first “15 Now” ordinance was passed, raising the minimum wage to $15 and doubling the wages and living standards for those who are covered, and

WHEREAS strengthening NOW’s alliances with the “15 Now” campaign will build membership and effectiveness at the grassroots levels as we moved toward the 2016 elections,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Organization for Women work with the “15 NOW” campaign to raise the minimum wage to not less than $15 an hour at all levels of government, and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that NOW recommend to the NOW/PAC that any candidate running for office must support an increase in the minimum wage and improvements in working conditions such as scheduling policies to receive both the support and endorsement of NOW/PAC.

SUPPORT DECARCERATION/END MASS INCARCERATION CAMPAIGN

WHEREAS, the National Organization for Women (NOW) is committed to change regarding prison reform; and;

WHEREAS, we recognize that the Decarceration/ End Mass Incarceration Campaign addresses the abuses and excesses of the prison pipe line that disproportionately imposes lengthy sentences on minorities, the poor and the mentally ill who have committed minor offenses;

WHEREAS, the female prison population has grown at a rate even greater than the male prison population, with 85 to 90 percent of incarcerated women having a history of having been victims of abuse; and

WHEREAS, the Decarceration/ End Mass Incarceration Campaign confronts the hypocrisy and inconsistency of our criminal justice system which has put 1 of every 100 Americans behind bars, and which is all too often used for pure political gain and corporate profit; and

WHEREAS, mandatory minimum sentence and “three strike” laws eliminate judicial discretion to base sentencing on the particular circumstances of each case; and

WHEREAS, “truth in sentencing” laws require those convicted to serve full sentences with no opportunity to earn parole; and

WHEREAS, prisoners’ health and safety is endangered in prisons, as is the well-being of prisoners’ families; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NOW work with our allies to end mass incarceration and the use of the criminal justice system to disproportionately arrest and convict racial minorities, the poor, and the mentally ill; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that NOW recommend to the NOW’s Political Action Committee (NOW/PAC) that any candidate running for office seeking NOW’s endorsement pledge to support efforts to end mass incarceration and the use of the criminal justice system to disproportionately arrest and convict racial minorities, the poor, and the mentally ill.

ENDORSEMENT OF HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT

WHEREAS, the NOW National Board urged the NOW PAC in March 2007 to quickly endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton to be President of the United States; and

WHEREAS, NOW PAC quickly followed the recommendation, announcing Clinton’s endorsement at the Sewell-Belmont House, the home of Alice Paul, the author of the Equal Rights Amendment; and

WHEREAS, upon receiving her endorsement the Washington Post reported that Clinton declared that “if you look up the word ‘feminist’ in the dictionary, you’ll find her,” and

WHEREAS, in discussing what is at stake for women in the 2015 Presidential election, Clinton stated that “These issues have to be in the lifeblood of this election and any election.”

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Board of the National Organization for Women, the largest feminist grassroots organization in the nation, urge NOW PAC to quickly endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton’s historic race for the presidency, and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NOW urge its grassroots leadership in every state in the nation to enthusiastically rally NOW members to work tirelessly to elect Hillary Clinton to be the first woman president of the United States.